EDUCATION
AQA GCSE SOCIOLOGY UNIT 1
MAY 2013
Created by Lydia Hiraide
The BRIT School
Sociology GCSE AQA 2013
THE ROLE OF EDUCATION
Education involves building up knowledge and learning new skills. It can take place formally or
informally.
Formal education: takes place in educational institutions such as schools and universities
where people learn knowledge and skills across a wide range of subjects.
Informal education: takes place when people develop knowledge and skills by observing what
is happening around them in everyday life.
THE PURPOSES OF FORMAL EDUCATION
Sociologists disagree about what formal education is for.
FUNCTIONALIST VIEWS ON FORMAL EDUCATION
The Functionalist approach focuses on the positive functions that the education system
performs in society. These include:
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Serving the needs of the economy: Education has an economic role in teaching the
knowledge and skills that future workers will need in a competitive global economy
Selection: The education system works like a sieve, grading people and allocating them
to jobs based on their individual merit, abilities and exam results
Facilitating social mobility: The education system is expected to enable individuals to
move up/down the social ladder. Able students from disadvantaged backgrounds have
opportunities to achieve qualifications that allow them to move up the layers of the
social class system
Encouraging ‘Britishness’ and social cohesion: Through their formal education,
pupils identify with British culture and see themselves as British citizens. Schools help
to reinforce the ‘glue’ or the social bonds that unite different people in society
Secondary socialization: While at school, pupils learn the culture, norms and values of
their society
Social control: Schools teach pupils to conform and accept rules and adult authority
MARXIST VIEWS ON FORMAL EDUCATION
The Marxist approach is crucial of the role of the education system in capitalist society. This
approach sees the education system as benefiting privileged groups and reinforcing social
inequalities over time. Their beliefs include
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Serving the interests of the ruling class: By passing on ideas and beliefs that benefit
the ruling class (e.g. that the capitalist society is fair and meritocratic)
Reproducing the class system: Education appears to reward pupils fairly based on
their individual abilities. However, it actually favours pupils from more advantaged
backgrounds. Over time, education reproduces the advantages that some social class
groups have over others.
Breeding competition: Through sports and exams at school, students are encouraged
to accept values such as competition. If most people value competition, this helps to
maintain the capitalist system because it is based on competition.
Created by Lydia Hiraide
The BRIT School
Sociology GCSE AQA 2013
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Secondary socialization: The education system socializes working-class children to
accept their lower position in capitalist society. They learn to accept hierarchy at school
and to obey rules.
KEYWORDS
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Capitalism: An economic system in which private owners invest money – or capital – in
businesses in order to make a profit.
Function: The role that a social structure such as the family or the education system
fulfils on behalf of individuals or society.
Functionalist approach: A sociological approach which examines society’s structures
(such as the family, education system and religion) in terms of the functions they
perform for the continuation of society and for individuals.
Hidden curriculum: Things learnt in schools that are not formally taught such as
valuing punctuality or obedience.
Hierarchy: A hierarchy is shaped like a layered pyramid and each layer has more power
than the one below it. In schools, for example, the head teacher is typically at the top of
the hierarchy and the pupils are at the bottom.
Marxist approach: A sociological approach that draws on the ideas of Karl Marx and
applies them to modern societies.
Meritocracy: A system in which an individual’s social position is achieved on the basis
of their abilities and talents rather than on the basis of their social origins and
background.
Official curriculum: The formal learning that takes place in schools, e.g. during history
and science lessons.
Social class: A group of people sharing a similar economic position in terms of
occupation, income and wealth.
Social cohesion: When a society is based on social cohesion, the different individuals
and groups that make up society are united into a body of citizens rather than divided by
conflicting interests.
Social inequalities: The uneven distribution of resources (such as income and power)
or opportunities and outcomes related to, for example, education and health.
Social mobility: Movement up and down between the layers/strata of society.
THE STRUCTURE OF THE EDUCATION SYSTEM
The education system is structured into five different stages.
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Preschool/early years education
Primary education
Secondary education
Further education
Higher education
Created by Lydia Hiraide
The BRIT School
Sociology GCSE AQA 2013
EDUCATION AS A POLITICAL ISSUES
Most recent governments have aimed to improve educational standards and have introduced
reforms to raise standards. Critics often question how far government policies have actually
achieved their aims. For example, the Education Reform Act 1988 SATs tests for 7-, 11- and 14year olds as a way of measuring pupils’ performance against national targets. Critics argued,
however, that there was too much formal testing in schools. It has now been abolished. Many
pupils found the tests stressful and some parents kept their children off school on test days.
DEBATES ABOUT THE STRUCTURE OF EDUCATION
Debates about how education is organized focus on issues such as the merits of:
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Different types of school such as faith schools, private schools, special schools and
selective schools
Testing in primary schools
Alternative forms of educational provision such as home education
Special schools and mainstream schools
FAITH SCHOOLS
Some parents/carers want their children to attend a faith school. Others want their children to
attend community schools that admit pupils regardless of their religious beliefs.
ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES OF FAITH SCHOOLS…
Advantages:
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Faith schools provide an education that complements the pupils’ religion
Many faith schools have above average exam results
Parents may prefer the religious ethos and teaching in a faith school
Some supporters argue that faith schools produce individuals who have a strong
sense of identity and self worth
Disadvantages:
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Faith schools segregate/divide children from different religions and discourage
mixing
They work against social cohesion
The intake of many faith schools is not representative of the local population
Some may discriminate in their employment or promotion of staff on religious
grounds
Created by Lydia Hiraide
The BRIT School
Sociology GCSE AQA 2013
PRIVATE SCHOOLS
ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES OF PRIVATE
SCHOOLS…
Advantages:
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Private schools have an academic ethos and pupils tend to achieve exam results that
are well above the national average
They offer good teaching and learning resources and small classes
They offer a wide range of extra-curricular activities
There is a strong focus on careers guidance and progression to university
Disadvantages:
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Private schools are selective and only admit pupils who pass an entrance exam and/or
whose parents can afford the school fees
They tend to recruit pupils from similar backgrounds and help to reproduce social
inequality and class divisions
They can put pupils under a lot of pressure to compete and to perform well
academically
Many of the teachers in private schools have been trained at the state’s expense
KEYWORDS
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Marketisation of education: The policy of bringing market forces (such as
competition) into education.
Selective education: A way of recruiting pupils to a school, based on a form of selection.
For example, pupils may be selected on the basis of their performance in an entrance
exam or their parents’ ability to pay annual school fees.
DIFFERENTIAL EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT
This term refers to the variations in educational attainment between students according to their
social class background, gender and ethnicity.
PATTERNS OF EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT
Be aware that:
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In general, students from middle-class backgrounds tend to achieve better results in
public examinations than those from working-class backgrounds
Generally, students from some minority ethnic groups (such as Chinese, Indian and Irish
heritage students) tend to perform better than others (such as African, Caribbean,
Pakistani and Bangladeshi heritage students) within education
During the 1970s and 80s, subject choice was gendered with girls and boys tending to
specialize in different secondary-school subjects. In the sciences, girls tended to choose
biology while boys tended to choose physics. This could be seen at ‘O’ level when more
Created by Lydia Hiraide
The BRIT School
Sociology GCSE AQA 2013
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boys sat exams in subjects such as physics and mathematics, and more girls sat exams in
biology and English Language
Traditionally, boys got better results at A-level than girls. However, towards the end of
the ‘80s this gender gap in achievement began to narrow and by the early 2000s, girls
were doing better than boys at GCSE and A-level. They were also tending to perform
better in key stage tests. In 2008, girls performed better than boys in English and
science tests at Key Stage 2
Not all students who are working-class, male, or from an ethnic minority background
underachieve. For example, boys from schools in very affluent areas generally perform
better than boys and girls in very deprived areas; middle-class boys tend to achieve
better results than working-class girls
INFLUENCES ON EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT
HOME FACTORS
Children’s experiences in the home and neighbourhood…
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Parental values and expectations
o Parents in professional occupations often have high expectations of their kids
and expect them to do well at school. They are more likely than other parents to
monitor their children’s school performance.
Parents’ educational backgrounds
o If parents have high-level educational qualifications, they are more able to help
with homework and monitor progress.
Economic Circumstances
o Students from relatively well-off backgrounds are more likely to have access to
facilities to help them study at home
o Students from some minority ethnic backgrounds are far more likely than white
British students to attend the most deprived schools
Cultural Background
o Research suggests that British Chinese parents value education and that in
Chinese culture, children respect older people. So British Chinese pupils develop
high educational ambitions and get positive self-esteem from being ‘good pupils’
SCHOOL FACTORS
Children’s experiences at school…
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School-based resources
o School factors include how well-resourced the school is
The school curriculum
o The school curriculum can be seen as ethnocentric; biased towards white
European cultures. Critics argue that African Caribbean cultures, histories and
experiences should be included more in the curriculum
Teacher expectations and labeling
o Some teachers may have lower expectations of students from working-class or
minority ethnic backgrounds. This may affect how much attention such teachers
give to these students during lessons and they may become demotivated
o Negative labeling of working-class or ethnic minority background students can
lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy. This means that students perform as badly or as
well as their teachers expect them to
Created by Lydia Hiraide
The BRIT School
Sociology GCSE AQA 2013
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Pupil cultures and school ethos
o Some pupils may experience peer pressure to conform to the norms of a culture
that does not value education
o ‘Laddish’ cultures emphasize that it is ‘uncool’ to work hard. This informal peer
subculture may encourage anti-learning attitudes and affect the progress of
particular students
o Among schools in middle-class neighborhoods, boys may not see education as
‘uncool’. They may achieve status among their peers by displaying academic
abilities
o School ethos refers to the character/culture of a school. Some schools have an
academic ethos that promotes exam success and progression to higher
education (e.g. selective schools)
GOVERNMENT POLICIES
The impact of government policies and reforms…
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EMAs
o Education Maintenance Allowances were introduced so that students from lowincome backgrounds could get financial help if they stayed on within education
and training after GCSEs
Equal opportunities policies and legislation
o Equal opportunities policies and anti-discrimination legislation made it illegal
for schools to discriminate on the basis of gender or ethnicity
The specialist schools programme
o Research suggests that some government policies such as this have helped to
tackle low achievement and raise standards in schools
Schools’ admission policies
o Some policies can work against students from disadvantaged backgrounds. For
example, if school’s admissions policy gives it scope to select its intake, this can
work against students from disadvantaged backgrounds
Marketisation, competition and league tables
o The emphasis on parental choice/competition between schools to raise
standards have made life more difficult for some urban schools that have an
intake of working-class or minority ethnic students
o National league tables were introduced to help raise standards in schools.
However, they can have negative effects for low achievers from disadvantaged
backgrounds if schools focus their resources on the better performers rather
than on those who are not entered for GCSE exams
KEYWORDS
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Institutional racism: This occurs when an organization (such as a police force or
hospital) fails to provide an appropriate service to people because of their ethnic origin,
culture or colour. Institutional racism can be seen in organizational attitudes or
behavior that discriminates, even when individuals themselves act without intending
this
Labelling: The process of attaching a label to individuals or groups
Minority ethnic group: An ethnic group that is in a minority in a particular society.
Britain is home to many minority ethnic groups including those of Irish, Polish, Greek
Cypriot, Indian and African Caribbean heritage
Created by Lydia Hiraide
The BRIT School
Sociology GCSE AQA 2013
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School ethos: This refers to the culture and character of a particular school. For
example, selective schools have an academic culture that stresses the importance of
exam success and progression from school to uni
Self-fulfilling prophecy: This occurs when a teacher makes a prophecy/prediction
about a pupil’s likely performance or potential that becomes true
Streaming: A form of teaching in which students are grouped according to their general
ability and then taught in this group for all of their subjects
Selective education: A way of recruiting pupils to a school, based on a form of selection.
For example, pupils may be selected on the basis of their results in an entrance exam, or
on the basis of their parents’ or guardians’ ability and willingness to pay annual school
fees
FEMALE EDUCATION SINCE THE 1980S
EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES POLICIES IN EDUCATION
During the 1908s, many schools developed equal opportunities policies to try to address gender
inequalities and discrimination in schools. This raised awareness of gender issues in education.
ANTI-DISCRIMINATION LAWS
Legislations such as the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 meant that schools could no longer
discriminate on the basis of gender. Practices such as lining up girls and boys separately and
having separate lists of girls’ and boys’ names on school registers were phased out.
IMPACT OF FEMINISM
Attitudes to gender roles generally and to girls’ education in particular have changed. Girls are
no longer expected to see marriage and motherhood as their main goals in life.
NATIONAL CURRICULUM
Before the introduction of the National Curriculum, girls tended to specialize in some subjects
and boys in others at 14 and beyond. The introduction of the National Curriculum in the late
1980s meant that pupils could no longer opt out of science subjects at 14. This helped to raise
girls’ achievements in science and opened up career opportunities for females.
EXAMPLE EXAM QUESTIONS
1. Identify and explain one way in which peer groups may influence pupils’ educational
achievements. (4 marks)
2. Explain what sociologists mean by ‘institutional racism’. (4 marks)
3. Identify two reasons why some parents may want their children to be educated at home
rather than at school. (2 marks)
4. Describe one way in which British governments have increased the use of testing in
primary schools over the past 25 years and explain the criticisms of this policy. (5
marks)
Created by Lydia Hiraide
The BRIT School
Sociology GCSE AQA 2013